Air fare question

[Little Rascal]

So, Viking is offering 1,000 off air pp. Do most people take advantage of this savings? Is it better to buy your own air fare or use Viking? I want to go early will they charge me a fee for this? We would like to fly premium plus. I see it on the Delta sight for about $1800.00 pp.

[Peregrina651]

So, Viking is offering 1,000 off air pp. Do most people take advantage of this savings? Is it better to buy your own air fare or use Viking? I want to go early will they charge me a fee for this? We would like to fly premium plus. I see it on the Delta sight for about $1800.00 pp.

 

The answer is not a simple yes or no. Air arrangements are complicated. Some people, like me, do get their airfare through Viking; other don't for varying reasons (like frequent flier miles or they want control over things, etc.). I can't tell you how it breaks down and you will find folks of both stripes here on CC. Personally, I have never been able to do better on my own and not having to worry about transfers is an added bonus.

 

On most but not all of their itineraries and air fare promotions, Viking offers "custom air" for a nominal fee, which allows you some but not unlimited choice of flights at the promotional price (and unlimited choice if you are willing to pay extra, which sometimes will still be a better deal than you think you can do on your own) For instance, custom air is definitely not offered on any itinerary that sails in or out of Bergen.

 

For an additional deviation fee plus sacrifice of the transfers that are included with the airfare and perhaps additional the payment of additional airfare, you can extend your stay on either end of the trip. The Catch-22 is that you will have to pay the custom air fee in order to find out how much it will cost to change your flights.

 

The answer is to sign up for the airfare promotion, then talk with the Viking Air department about what your choices are before deciding if you want to book through Viking or book on your own. There is a cut off for when you can cancel the Viking air and you should ask that question when you book the cruise. And, the custom air fee is not refundable so figure that in when you calculate how much you will save if you book on your own.

[mhb1757]

I agree with Peregrina. I use Viking air because it has been the most economical choice. Others feel they can do better on their own A lot depends on where you fly out of and what type of promotion Viking is offering when you book. Do your homework and see what your flight options are and what you could book them for on your own and then see if you want to work with Viking or not.

No one right answer to this one.

[stretchcruz]

We are doing Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond April 15. I'm in Tucson and the air quoted was $1,100 plus if we wanted the custom it is $50 add'l. From all of the problems with Viking Air I've read about I think I'm doing my own. I can book the end of next week but by putting dummy bookings in it's about $1,300. I have Capital One points so essentially one would be free and I can fly TUS-JFK-BCN, a little over 14 hours. We want to stay 2 nights in Stockholm after so I'm going to see what happens next week when my dates become available then talk to my TA to see what she thinks. I realize I'll have to pay for transfers but somehow I think I'm going to be better off on my own, especially because Tucson is a difficult airport to get connections. Just reading the Viking Air reviews has made me nervous. I did book the air with my cruise but haven't had to pay for it yet so can cancel it.

[Krisval]

We've done Viking air once and our own twice. I like to have more control over which flights we take. The one time we used Viking, we were able to upgrade to economy comfort, but had to do it on our own when the window opened for upgrades. I think the system has changed now so you can do the upgrades earlier.

Anyhow, we are doing our own air this time (New Year's in the Med) as I'm still tweaking the flight dates and may do a combo of cash and points for the tickets we want. Will make our own arrangements for airport transportation (did so in Portugal and Paris with no problem). I would definitely use Viking in China as I found that to be a very different system and I had no familiarity with the language.

[Little Rascal]

The fee is $3098.00 with $1000.00 off per person. No custom air due to flying out of Bergen, Norway. I think i'll book the air and shop and if I find it much cheaper than cancel the air portion. You can do that right? Im booking the Viking Homelands cruise for May 2018. That's a long time off still. :(

[Peregrina651]

then cancel the air portion. You can do that right?

 

I would make it very clear directly with Viking--and not anyone else--what the policy will be for cancelling the air at a later date. Get it in writing. "But they told me on Cruise Critic" won't get you anywhere if the policy turns out to be different than you were lead to believe reading about here.

[Little Rascal]

I would make it very clear directly with Viking--and not anyone else--what the policy will be for cancelling the air at a later date. Get it in writing. "But they told me on Cruise Critic" won't get you anywhere if the policy turns out to be different than you were lead to believe reading about here.

 

Yes, I agree with you on that one! I will, I have a call into them today.

[palermo22]

We are doing Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond April 15. I'm in Tucson and the air quoted was $1,100 plus if we wanted the custom it is $50 add'l. From all of the problems with Viking Air I've read about I think I'm doing my own. I can book the end of next week but by putting dummy bookings in it's about $1,300. I have Capital One points so essentially one would be free and I can fly TUS-JFK-BCN, a little over 14 hours. We want to stay 2 nights in Stockholm after so I'm going to see what happens next week when my dates become available then talk to my TA to see what she thinks. I realize I'll have to pay for transfers but somehow I think I'm going to be better off on my own, especially because Tucson is a difficult airport to get connections. Just reading the Viking Air reviews has made me nervous. I did book the air with my cruise but haven't had to pay for it yet so can cancel it.

 

We are on the same cruise - when we signed up 11 months ago we were given a "special fare" for upgrading to Premium Economy. We have to pay for the cruise and airline fare by the end of June. I have already told my travel agent that we're doing the air on our own - we'll just pay for the cruise. I have lived all over the world so I feel confident in this approach. We live on the California Central Coast - LAX is a three hour drive - my preliminary routing would be to use Air New Zealand from LAX to LHR (both ways) - and book internal European flights from LHR to BCN and STO back to LHR. When I heard that Viking was going to charge us $150 each (to stay one night at LHR and to use custom travel - I told my wife that we're now over $4K for premium economy. My preliminary info is that I can do this trip with better comfort and $500 less.

[stretchcruz]

We don't have to pay till Oct so I've got time! Going to look next week cause the return should be available.

[Little Rascal]

Please let me know if you do your own and what you find. For us, the cruise is two years out so I can't really shop for air yet. :( I bought the air but may cancel when it gets closer to see if I can do better which I'm thinking we will be able to save quite a bit. At over $2000.00 pp for premium economy. I want to go early too so we would have to pay $100.00 deviation fee on top of that. We have done a lot of independent travel so no problem getting our own transfers to the airport or ship. We do have the option to pay$50.00pp for the transfers so it may be worth it.

[BamaT]

Viking does not "buy" your airline tickets until a couple of months before departure. For our July 3, 2016 cruise, Viking booked my husband and I on Iceland Air (out of Washington, DC), with layover in Iceland and connecting flight to Bergen. But, because they lock in so late, our seats were in the LAST ROW (non-reclining) right in front of the restrooms. I called Viking Air and said they were unacceptable, but their response was that they were the only seats available unless we split up. I asked about another airline (SAS flies via Copenhagen) and was told their fare exceeded the contract rate, but they would change my flight if I was willing to pay the $250/per seat difference. We paid the difference. Upon further checking I could have booked SAS cheaper than Viking Air quoted, but wouldn't have the transfer to/from ship. Lesson learned.

[roothy123]

Viking does not "buy" your airline tickets until a couple of months before departure. For our July 3, 2016 cruise, Viking booked my husband and I on Iceland Air (out of Washington, DC), with layover in Iceland and connecting flight to Bergen. But, because they lock in so late, our seats were in the LAST ROW (non-reclining) right in front of the restrooms. I called Viking Air and said they were unacceptable, but their response was that they were the only seats available unless we split up. I asked about another airline (SAS flies via Copenhagen) and was told their fare exceeded the contract rate, but they would change my flight if I was willing to pay the $250/per seat difference. We paid the difference. Upon further checking I could have booked SAS cheaper than Viking Air quoted, but wouldn't have the transfer to/from ship. Lesson learned.

 

Unfortunately, if you live in DC and take any cruise line's airfare, you're likely to get Iceland Air. We did with another cruise line a few years ago. It's cheap. I'm glad you mentioned your experience, as I'm thoroughly expecting to be given Iceland Air flights to Norway next year on Viking. If the seat assignments are really horrible, I'll at least know there is maybe a chance of paying extra at that late date to get something else. I thought that once you were ticketed, that was impossible.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Bergen is tough because it is small with few flights to choose from. Only Norwegian Air has non-stops to NY, and their online reviews are not good (especially if something goes wrong -- no partner airlines, so you can be stranded while the ship sails :eek:). But Oslo has much better service, and the train ride from Oslo to Bergen is considered one of the most scenic in the world!

[CharTrav]

Bergen is tough because it is small with few flights to choose from. Only Norwegian Air has non-stops to NY, and their online reviews are not good (especially if something goes wrong -- no partner airlines, so you can be stranded while the ship sails :eek:). But Oslo has much better service, and the train ride from Oslo to Bergen is considered one of the most scenic in the world!

 

 

Your answer explains why I was able to get ourselves booked on United from DC (IAD>EWR>OSLO). We're doing the Oslo pre-extension.

[inborn traveler]

We did Viking Air for a river cruise because it was a great deal. Never again! We were on the Sea's maiden voyage in April, but did our own air and transfers. LAX to Barcelona then Oslo to LAX on Lufthansa Premium Economy.. Highly recommend this. And using taxis for transfers was less money than paying for Viking's transfers. We went a few days early to Barcelona and stayed in the Renaissance, which we booked online.The morning we left for the ship we walked passed all the Viking people and bags waiting in the hotel lobby, and walked right into the taxi the hotel called for us. So glad we were on our own! After the cruise We did Norway in a Nutshell to Oslo, staying two nights in route. We sent our bags by baggage service from Bergen hotel Oslo hotel. Just one small bag to lug around. The train pulled into Oslo station and we walked right over to The Comfort Hotel. Great location for touring the city on a Viator city tour. Fantastic Italian restaurant too. Night before our flight home we took a taxi to an airport hotel, from which we walked with our bags to our flight the next morning. No transportation issues to deal with before of after our fantastic Viking Cruise. Viking knows how to do ocean cruising, but not how to satisfy customers in the air transportation area. I think you get what you pay for!

[Fitzall]

We've used Viking Air twice to Europe using the $999 return flight option. 1st time with Emirates (in to Paris/out of London); this time with Singapore (in to Istanbul/out of Barcelona). Flts chosen by Viking Air both times have been perfect with minimum stopover times. We are in Australia so maybe we don't have the issues that people have with Viking Air in the US.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Fitzall

[CEV426]

Little Rascal....

 

We may be on the same sailing as you for May 2018...

 

Anyway, I have only been on Viking river cruises so far, but the first 2 times we booked our own air with miles. (PHL to AMS and PHL to CDG).

 

We are now booked for Tulips and Windmills for April 2017 and the air was included. I think may be because of the recent Belgium terrorist attacks.

 

For Viking Homelands, they will knock off $1000 pp if we use our own air. This is a no brainer for me. We have FF miles for United (inc Liutfhansa) and British Air. I know the schedules aren't out yet, but I did a search of flights using May 2017. I can use miles for Luthansa to FRA and then to Stockholm....and return from Bergen to LHR and LHR to PHL. I should have plenty of miles by then. I can also choose Newark or JFK in a pinch.

 

Even if we paid for the tickets, they are not $1800 pp as Viking suggests. In this case it's worth it for us to take the price off the cabin and arrange our own transfers.

 

I see you are in So Cal... Norwegian Airlines flies from Bergen to LAX via LHR or Oslo and they use the 787 Dreamliner! (BUT, they do not fly on Tues or Sat in this direction) Rates look very reasonable, but it prob includes nothing. :cool:

[jiminyC_fan]

We've used Viking Air twice. Just recently I was working on the air vs doing it on our own. I could not match what they were offering. We have only one layover each direction and for only a couple of hours. I, also, changed from economy to economy plus and chose our seats. Two experiences and two times it worked out. Plus as stated above, the transfers are nice to have as well.

[Vineyard View]

JiminyC - did you use the custom air through Viking? IMHO - if I didn't have the miles that we use, it would be worth it to me to spend $100/each to have the added control over dates of travel and upgrade capability. That seems a fair price to pay.

And it's good to hear that Viking air is working.....all the cruise lines purchase bulk so it is the same struggle with many others as well. If $100 resolves those issues, it seems like a great option.

[jiminyC_fan]

Yes, we did use custom air both times. We won't hesitate to book that way again.

[mhb1757]

JiminyC - did you use the custom air through Viking? IMHO - if I didn't have the miles that we use, it would be worth it to me to spend $100/each to have the added control over dates of travel and upgrade capability. That seems a fair price to pay.

And it's good to hear that Viking air is working.....all the cruise lines purchase bulk so it is the same struggle with many others as well. If $100 resolves those issues, it seems like a great option.

 

The fee for Viking custom air is only $50/pp and imho it is $$ well spent. Not only have we been able to select our flights you can ask them to go ahead and ticket the flights. That allows you to go online and select your seats, upgrade etc. directly with the airline earlier. The only problem comes when custom air is not available for your itinerary. Any trip that begins or ends in Bergen will not have custom air available. Otherwise it works great. Also if you pay the custom air fee 3 times then it is complimentary for all subsequent cruises!!

[Azulann]

We got the promotion of $1000. off air for our cruise , in 2018 from Suan Juan to Barcelona. It came to $599.00 for airfare after the discount of the promotion.

Our TA will pay the deviation fee for custom air. We want to fly in 2 days early and stay two nights after the cruisse. We want to fly a certian airline because of we are FF members.

He said no problem. He will work with Viking to make sure we get good connections and the airline we want.

Having just been to Spain for a cruise in July , I know what the price of air was in 2016, so it was a no brainer to take this deal for 2018.

[Vineyard View]

On this and another current thread, I am reading very positive reviews of the Viking custom air, and that is a pleasant surprise. I really appreciate all the detail (thank you for the price correction, $50/pp is better than I had been informed) - along with free after three!

We always use miles - knock on wood it seems to work for us - but there are some destinations that may make sense in the future to use custom air after reading all these reviews. So thank you all

Edited August 25, 2016 by Vineyard View

[Little Rascal]

Cindy,

 

Thanks for the tip on Norwegian Air. i will have to look them up. We want to fly premium economy due to my husband being 6'6 and needing the extra leg room. I wonder if they offer that? Our cruise is not until May 2018 so too early to check prices.